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Father Monan -- Pillar of Mass Mentoring Partnership

On February 28th, we held our 25th Anniversary Gala Celebration to honor individuals and organizations that have supported Mass Mentoring Partnership over the past quarter century. We honored our Four Pillars of Mass Mentoring, a group of people that created the foundation for our organization. Here is a profile of Rev. J. Donald Monan, Pillar of Mass Mentoring Partnership, followed by a video tribute that was shown at the event.

In 1992, Father Monan helped found Greater Boston 1 to 1, which would later become Mass Mentoring Partnership. He created the organization’s first governing board and leadership council and worked with MENTOR, The National Mentoring Partnership, to start the first local affiliate. He dedicated valuable time, effort and energy to grow a new organization that would scale mentoring and bring more caring adults into the lives of young people who needed them. His leadership on the local level made him a model for leadership on the national level where he supported MENTOR as a board member and thought leader in its efforts to grow a national movement. Father Monan used his experience in education and his innovative approach to helping all young people thrive to be a true leader for mentoring. Father Monan served for 24 years as President of Boston College, the longest presidential tenure in the University’s history, and is well respected as one of the most defining leaders of BC and of philanthropic support for young people in the City of Boston.

Through his spirit and belief that every young person needs a mentor, he generated support for MMP from Boston College as well as academic and business leaders throughout the city. A true hero for all young people, Father Monan’s passion and leadership are what has shaped MMP from its birth to where it stands today.

“Father Monan’s wisdom, perspective, commitment, humility, and authenticity are present in every interaction and it seems effortless. He also has a steely determination for progress especially on behalf of those facing the most hurdles. Time and time again, he cites mentoring as the primary asset that must be present in our young people’s lives for them to succeed. And that convinced him that a movement was necessary and he has worked on it ever since both locally and nationally.”
—DAVID SHAPIRO | FORMER MMP CEO

“From the very beginning, I was so impressed and moved by the level of commitment and dedication Father Monan had to the mentoring movement in general and to Mass Mentoring Partnership in particular. Father’s optimism that this could be done was contagious and helped build consensus among the stakeholders. Father Monan was a great teacher, imparting his wisdom to the mentoring community and making it stronger.”
—LINDA ALIOTO-ROBINSON | FORMER MMP CEO